I2CI

Grammar
Review

I2CI: Relative clauses 1

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are short phrases beginning with words like who,
that and which, that describe people and things. There are two
types:
Defining relative clauses: we use these to identify exactly which
person or thing we mean:
The candidate who we interviewed on Friday is better than this
one

The relative clause is part of the noun phrase. This information is

necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Non-defining relative clauses: we use these to add extra

information about a person or a thing:
The candidate, who spoke perfect English, did a great interview

The extra information may be interesting, but it is not a necessary

part of the sentence. To show this, in writing we use commas

I2CI: Relative clauses 1

Relative clauses

Non-defining clauses are more common in writing. In speech,

we often give the same information by just using two short
sentences:
The salesman, who was very helpful, said this model was in
stock (writing)
The salesman was very helpful. He said this model was in
stock (speech)

In the previous example, we are just adding extra information

about the salesman. If there is more than one salesman and we
want to say which one we are talking about, then we use a
defining relative clause:
The salesman who I spoke to on the phone yesterday said
this model was in stock but now you tell me that you dont
have any. Ive come all the way here to buy it (the salesman
I spoke to yesterday was helpful, but the salesman in front
of me today is not)

I2CI: Relative clauses 1

Relative pronouns

The words who which, that, whom and whose can begin a
relative clause. They are called relative pronouns

For people both who and that are used, but who is more
common:
The candidate who they chose for the job worked in
banking

For things or ideas both which and that are used, but that
is more common, specially in speech:
The products that you ordered were sent today

The relative pronoun whose shows that something belongs

to someone or something:
Ive invited to the meeting everyone whose work is
relevant to this project

I2CI: Relative clauses 1

Relative pronouns

In formal English it is possible to use whom instead of who

where who is the object of the sentence. But in modern
English most speakers only use who:
The candidate who/whom we chose for the job has an MBA

Leaving out the relative pronoun in a defining

relative clause

We can leave out who, which, that (but not whose) in a

defining relative clause if they are followed immediately
by a noun or pronoun:
The customer (who) Tony spoke to has just arrived

We must keep the relative pronoun if it is followed

immediately by a verb:
The customer who spoke to Tony will arrive today

I2CI: Relative clauses 1

I2CI: Relative clauses 2

Combining sentences

Look at this example of two separate sentences:

Im taking a flight. It goes via Frankfurt

We can combine the sentences using a relative clause.

There are two ways, but the meanings are the same:
Im taking a flight that goes via Frankfurt
The flight (that) Im taking goes via Frankfurt

Note that articles often change when sentences are

combined:
Taking a flight: like the original short sentence,
because the flight is mentioned for the first time and
there are several of them
The flight: because theres only one in the mind of
the speaker

I2CI: Relative clauses 2

Use of what

We can use the relative pronoun what to mean the

thing(s) that:
I didnt understand what she said (=the things that she
said)
What we need is a much better marketing strategy
(=the thing that we need is)

I2CI: Relative clauses 2

Use of where, when and why

We can use the relative adverbs where, when and why with
their normal meanings to identify which thing we are talking
about:
It was difficult to understand the reason why he resigned

We can leave out when or why, or use that:

Do you remember the day (when) I started working here ?
Do you remember the day that I started working here ?

We must keep where except when there is a preposition at

the end of the clause. In this case, we leave it out or use
that:
The hotel where I stayed was quite cheap
The hotel (that) I stayed in was quite cheap

I2CI: Relative clauses 2

Relative Clauses with a participle (-ing, -ed)

The relative clause can have a continuous verb form (with an

ing ending) or a passive verb form (with an ed ending):
The people who are making real decisions are at Head
Office
The products that were attracting most interest were the
smaller, lighter models
Passengers who are seated in rows J-P can now board the
aircraft

In these cases we can simplify the sentence by leaving out

the relative pronoun and the verb be:
The people making real decisions are at Head Office
The products attracting most interest were the smaller,
lighter models
Passengers seated in rows J-P can now board the aircraft

I2CI: Relative Clauses

Grammar

exercises
on Relative Clauses:
Test 13